Professional services
Law Practice Conversion Rate Calculator
Measures the intake funnel, where the response speed stage loses the most.
Result
Splitting the funnel matters because the fix differs at each step. A poor answer rate is a staffing problem, a poor booking rate is a scripting problem, and a poor win rate is usually a price or trust problem.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Each stage divided by the one before: enquiries answered, answered to consultation booked, consultation to retained. Multiplying through gives the enquiry-to-client rate, with the value of what fell out at each stage. The stages need separating because the fixes are different: answering is operational, booking is intake, and retaining is the consultation itself.
What moves the number
- Answer rate, which in a small practice is often poor.
- Speed of response to an enquiry.
- Consultation to retention rate.
- Whether the fee conversation happens early enough.
Where this one goes wrong
People with a legal problem are frequently anxious and calling several firms, and the first practice to respond properly wins a disproportionate share, which makes response speed the highest-return stage to fix. In an owner-operated practice calls go unanswered during hearings and meetings, and the enquiry goes elsewhere. An answering service or dedicated intake person usually pays for itself quickly. The retention stage is a different problem, and when it is weak the fee conversation is usually happening too late.
Before you quote
- Measure the answer rate, not just retention.
- Respond to enquiries fast, ahead of other firms.
- Raise fees early in the consultation, not at the end.
Questions
About this calculator
Where do legal enquiries get lost?
At the phone. People with a legal problem are anxious and calling several firms, and the first to respond properly wins a disproportionate share. In an owner-operated practice the calls arrive during hearings and go elsewhere, which is the largest and cheapest leak.
Is an answering service worth it?
Usually, since the alternative is missing enquiries all day. Compare the monthly cost against the margin on the matters those missed calls represent, and with legal matter values that comparison is normally comfortable.
Why do consultations fail to retain?
Often because the fee conversation happens at the end, after an hour spent on a matter the prospective client was never going to pay for. Raising it early is better for both sides and it preserves the practice's scarcest resource.
The formula
each step = that step / the step before it; overall = matters / enquiries
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How to use this calculator
- Enquiries. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 100.
- Answered or returned. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 82.
- Booked an appointment. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 55.
- Became engaged matters. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 33.
- Average fee per matter ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,600.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to enquiry to matter, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Enquiries | 100 |
| Answered or returned | 82 |
| Booked an appointment | 55 |
| Became engaged matters | 33 |
| Average fee per matter | $2,600 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Enquiry to matter main result | 33.0% |
| Answered | 82.0% |
| Answered to booked | 67.1% |
| Booked to won | 60.0% |
| Value of what fell through | $174,200 |
33.0% of enquiries become jobs. The biggest drop is worth finding: 82.0% get answered, 67.1% of those book, 60.0% of those buy. The ones that fell through were worth $174,200.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only average fee per matter, this is what happens to enquiry to matter. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Average fee per matter ($) | Enquiry to matter |
|---|---|
| $1,300 | 33.0% |
| $1,950 | 33.0% |
| $2,600 example above | 33.0% |
| $3,900 | 33.0% |
| $5,200 | 33.0% |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Enquiries
- A number, between 0 and 100000, starting at 100.
- Answered or returned
- A number, between 0 and 100000, starting at 82.
- Booked an appointment
- A number, between 0 and 100000, starting at 55.
- Became engaged matters
- A number, between 0 and 100000, starting at 33.
- Average fee per matter ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,600.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Enquiry to matter | The headline result. A percentage. |
| Answered | A percentage. |
| Answered to booked | A percentage. |
| Booked to won | A percentage. |
| Value of what fell through | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.